Bare Assertions

 

George Prentice summed up nude makeup more concisely than any famous makeup artist by stating "A bare assertion is not necessarily the naked truth."  Nude makeup is an illusion comprised of the same makeup components to the most colourful or dramatic makeup imaginable.  Its techniques and placement are the same, all that changes are the shades and tones of the colour scheme.

Naked makeup has been a fashion staple for the last fifteen years, it was first launched in the grunge and minimalism fashion of the mid 90s to mid naughties, with Kate Moss being the forerunner. Freckles shone through and makeup was about enhancing features, not bringing attention to itself.  Pinky-brown lipsticks, fawn eyeliners and auburn mascaras were marketed in the quest of making women look like the best version of themselves. Makeup accents  within or layered on the nude look have come and gone as fashion has moved, but the nude base has become a classic go-to staple (or perhaps a lazy alternative) that runways keep revisiting. It's being continually recycled because it is the an easy backdrop in allowing one single exaggerated makeup fashion statement to stand out.

Since the 90s, for the past fifteen years, the naked face has been used to showcase the winged eyeliner (2007 to present); thick brows (2003 to present); dolly blush application (2002 to 2007); super thin stylised defined brows (1999 to 2003); and deep matte lipstick (1990 to 1998, more recently 2009 to present) just to name some of the past and recent trends that utilise the naked face as its base.  By contrasting a single makeup exaggeration on to a blank, or nude face, will amplify the exaggerated item further as there is no other feature or makeup competing against it.  In eliminating all distractions that would attract the viewer's gaze away from the overstated makeup item, any chance of facial balance to soften the look is also eliminated.  Yet, despite the severity created to the face with a singular exaggeration, as a fashion statement (only) these amplifications are pushed by runways and glossy magazines as being fashion friendly and wearable; after all, they argue, one would be wearing and accentuating only one feature. Choosing fashionable over flattering is the wearer's choice, and I for one often choose trendy over pretty. However, what does raise a question is whether any technique used to such an extent and for such a long period of time is justifiable in artistic and fashionable terms.  To be creative and innovative takes more effort (and perhaps more talent).

The Prada model to the left (autumn/winter 2011) nude makeup is chosen to act as a vehicle to exaggerate the colour that has been in fashion spring/summer 2010, that is, peach/apricot. The colour of the lips and cheeks has been showcased by naked makeup illusion, where no eye shading is used and highlighting is used to eliminate all crevices and depressions so to make the eyes seem as flat as possible. Also,  no facial contouring is utilised, and a stereotypical "spring" complexion model (little contrast between hair and skin tones and clear, warm, golden undertones) is chosen. Although the blush and lip tint are quite sheer and have a natural semi-matte finish to them, the apricot colour within these two washes literally pop out of the photo as there is no other features, colours or shadows to counteract its effect. Added to which, the natural warm tones within the model's skin and hair further accentuate the peach colour.

Turning back the clock, Shu Eumura cosmetic brand launched the photo to the right to advertise false eyelashes in 2007. Here, nude makeup is taken one step further by camouflaging all features into one blank base. Natural eyelashes, cheek bones and cheeks, lips, brows and hair are monotoned and downplayed. The only other feature (other than the false eyelashes) shaded with a soft wash colour are eyelids.  However, this wash of eyeshadow does not serve to flatter the model, or create balance to the face, it exists purely to create a background and frame to  the false eyelashes resulting in further exaggeration.

Technology is also responsible for the naked makeup trend being continually recycled and relaunched.   Since the advent of synthetic oils in foundation in the early 90s, and and more recently in powders and eyeshadows, makeup up is no longer a substances which sits on top of the skin in an obvious manner, nor does it completely camouflage the skin anymore.  Synthetic oils in makeup means that makeup adheres to the skin more securely and has given chemists the power to further dilute pigments for sheerer finishes, allowing skin to be seen through the makeup.  Also, its tenacious adherence means that it is able to flexibly move with the skin without budging or sinking into pores, furrows and wrinkles. Gone are the days of a chalky powdery layers of eyeshadow that prevailed  just five years, eyeshadow really does look like eye shadows. The Stella McCartney  model on the left has a nude makeup using the latest makeup technology other than the lipstick barely showing through, base, blush, eye makeup cannot be detected.

Added to which, makeup brushes have readily available to all are now marketed in every conceivable size, texture and cut. Makeup application has become faster, more accurate, and more controlled and if the applier desires, sheerer. It is easy to forget that as recent as the the early 90s makeup brushes were very hard to come by and often makeup artists were forced to cut out their own brushes and scour art supply stores to find brushes. Mass produced brushes with decent tapering and fibres are now available to all so the fashion can now comfortably launch any type of makeup technique, as the tools to back their trend is already in place.

The last influence and the reason as to why nude makeup trend has had such a long fashion span is due to the film industry.   Films, since the 90s have not only opted for their typical neutral and matte makeup policy on all characters (except where characterisations dictate) have opted from the mid 90s to make makeup as natural as possible.  A friend of mine who is renowned film makeup artist confessed to me that she pretty much works with a handful a soft neutral mid toned to light tones matte shades and darker shades are primarily used to enhances the lash line only.

To be truthful, I'm not all that certain that the nude makeup look is particularly trendy on its own at this time. It was a common fad a couple of years ago, I grant you that. The makeup market has also helped propagate it of recent by marketing a variety of "nude" eyeshadow selection ( such as Urban Decay's The Nakeds and Nyx's). However, if you are hoping to make an avaunt gard statement, streetwear wise it probably misses the mark.  Despite the fashion circuit pushing this trend on to us, we are not  living a minimalist fashion phase. Perhaps makeup has become too natural like for a naked makeup look, such naturalness can defeat the purpose of makeup all together. Fashion, has a tendency to bring attention on to itself, in real-life a truly naked face when done expertly using latest state of the art makeup it would be assumed not have any makeup on.  The nude makeup 2010/211 "trend" has, however, served a very important function: it has rendered top heavy makeup, dark eye makeup, big lashes and shiny eye makeup dated.  It is more accurate to describe it as a transitional recycled trend whose purpose is to age naughties makeup trends and take us into a new makeup fashion age.

Sharp Looks

In contrast to the soft, natural, sporty, Ralph Lauren country style inspired makeup and fashion trends that are now in vogue, there exists another opposing trend which is currently thriving and evolving. This trend is a sharp look that is enhanced through strong, bold, often dark, and always defined, streamlines reminiscent of  the 40s and 50s. In clothing this fashion includes elongated or turned up shoulder silhouettes (albeit, the turned up shoulders are a short lived fad while the structured shoulders are here to stay for some time); cinched in high waists; fitted hips, girth and upper buttock area; weighty, skyscraper heels or wedged platforms (yet in-set); pointy toes; and stovepipes and pegged in slacks, skirts and jeans. It's a fashion that accentuates curves, and then contrasts them against acute angles and defined lines.  The end result is a matronly, stylised, adult like, dressy, power hungry look. A highly disciplined femininity with a slight domineering twist.

The contrast and cohesion of this power-play vs femininity 50s inspired fashion has also spilled over into the world of makeup. Within these peripherals, the makeup style is strong and defined and also includes strong streamlines.  One of these fashions includes the change that has occurred to nails - round or oval nails, and more recently, to pointy shapes.  The dark, long, lean elegance of the  Betty Davis styled nails have replaced the square and squaval tacky white french manicured sporty length talons alla 00s porn star. Again, it's a more feminine style, yet edgier and with slight masochistic, darker tone.

When dealing with eye makeup, this fashion has abandoned the panda/smoky eye makeup and primarily adopted in its place stylised liquid liner applied with a heavy hand répertoire  shaped into wings (think Amy Winehouse) or tail tips (think a stereotypical 50s star eyeline job).  At the moment there is a tendency of leaning towards wings over tails, albeit the runways have been oscillating  between the two styles for the past five years without  making any clear cut statement.

However, one makeup trend often present with highly stylised liner is a nude, clean face, where the only exaggeration to exist is the eyeliner itself.  This is sharp, bold, and dare I say, harsh look.  The skin is kept flawless, the lips and brows subtly camouflaged and any eye makeup  is kept nude and mostly matte. From such a base the eyeliner can be of any colour, intensity, shape, angle and length. As lovely as the catwalk Armani model on the left may look, this is not a look that adapts well to reality.  The stark contrast between the illusion of no makeup and a single exaggerated stylised feature can be aging and grim causing feature imbalance, rendering the look only suitable as a fashion statement.

Another alternative is to blend the liner by using shadow  applied in an elongated winged style, connecting to the lower  eyelid liner. A good example of this type of technique can be seen on the left on Angelina Jolie. The liner may be applied with a liquid or cream/gel eyeliner  and is then blended with a matching shadow to soften its effect with finely controlled blending.Having a liner on the bottom eyeline also helps soften the effect of the liner.

For those seeking such a trend but in a  slightly  more flattering  context, another alternative is also a  50s inspired stylised eyelid shadow adaptation which is just starting to make a splash on the fashion scene. With this style makeup there a few manners in which the eyeshadow is applied, but  the common denominator is always the eyeshadow applied in a manner that emulates eyeliner. In the picture to the right, the stylisation has occur on a classic V shadow back corner application, where the shadow applied is the same colour to the eyeliner which enhances the ambiguity of  the corner crease, the  outer corners and the eyeliner melding into each other into a sharp corner.  By not defining  areas of the eye with different shades and tones, and by  choosing not to blend the shadow, electing to concentrate on lines instead renders the the eye makeup easier in creating two dimensional manipulations, especially of the stylised manner. 

Westwood's autumn/winter 2011 runway also opted for a quasi-cat eye style of make up by combining a lower eyelid smoke effect with matching burgandy winged liner.  A truly sexy bedroom eye combination. The makeup artist also balanced off the strong eye amkeup to matching matte lipstick, thus a lot of the harshness of eye only makeup is eliminated.

With exaggerated liner trend growing in strength it is inevitable that the next logical fashion step would be cat eye eyeshadow application makeup. In this typeof makeup, the eyeliner gives way to the lower eyelid eyeshadow applied in a stylised and streamlined manner. The model to the left is wearing a soft variation of the 80s cat eye makeup.  In the 80s this was a very popular makeup option. The cat eye makeup was influenced by the 50s, gothics and punk fashion.  At the timeit was also referred to as "vampire makeup, which now is referred to as vamp.

The cat eye 50s and 80s makeup has also influenced  glasses fashion. The photo below is from the Prada runway autumn winter 2011 collection, where similar cuts were also shown on Dolce e Gabbana, Chanel and various other runways.  This is one of the few trends where fashion follows makeup, rather than the other way round. Here Prada has further emphasised the makeup influence by accentuating the cat eye shape with a black line on the upper frame emulating a winged liner and a soft neutral beige colour on the rest of the frame emulating that nude eye makeup look that is often coupled with stylised liner. Love it!  Wonderful  to see that even Prada  is capable of a little little tongue in cheek fashion humour.

D Brow Cut

Fash and mags have been pushing the thick brow for years. I remember seeing the first thick brow on a makeup poster in a chichi department store way back in 2003. The consumer rejected and ignored it, and the cosmetic companies not wanting to upset the frail wallets of their customer base, coyly played the "you put your left foot in" game for years to come.

Although the subtle thick brow campaign failed to convert us, it was successful in making us reassess the 70s inspired thin brow fashion of the late 90s and early 00s. Their ghost crept up on us ever so slowly retraining our eye to a new and bolder fashion. It enticed us to re-fashion the waif brow first into a slightly thicker shape, then into a more natural finish, whereby stylisation of brows slowly died out. 

Let us fast forward to 2006. Runways, mags and cosmetic brand campaign put their proverbial left foot down and forcefully pushed for a defined, thick brow. Within one year this new brow became so well established by the fashion world that model agencies told their models to grow out their brows or risk losing work. Currently, the bushy, unkempt Brooke Shields brow, with wild inner tufts and large, flat base and tail with minimal inner arch lift is considered the it brow.

If you've been blessed with thick brows, grow them out and flaunt them, as I predict this not to be a short lived fad, but a serious fashion trend that will become increasingly popular remaining with us for the next five to ten years. If you fear the change, then take a careful look at the above picture. Smoky eye makeup is rendered less harsh by rich brows, as it softens its severity by adding  spacial, textural  and colour competition, creating stronger plane to counteract the darkness of the eyeshadow.

The it brow - unkempt, unruly, untamed, unlit and sultry. Grow some bush today.

Most top makeup artists have now embraced the new brow. Bobbi Brown, the original  Brook Shield brow forerunner of the 80s, is taking thick brows very seriously this time round, as well. Brown, has even gone to the extent of trimming the shot on the left in such a way as to frame whole photo, not just the model's face,  making the brows the understated center piece. Bobbi  adds  weight  to these brows by meticulously shading them in all the way to the very outer peripherals of the entire brow length (the model's natural brows are not this thick) with a shadow slightly lighter than the model's hair, and then using one shade slightly darker for the brow tails.  The light to dark technique gives the illusion of length and volume by adding depth.

The hardcore fashionista may want to take it one avant-guard step up and make all of their brows at least a full shade darker than their hair by using a single, flat colour.  This "power brow" is strong, bold, carnal and voluptuous. It empowers the  face and the over-all image, while emitting a raw fridaesque sensuality. If you think your face cannot handle its severity, then couple it with a powerful lipstick to create balance. In the picture to the right, a matte red lipstick, and matching dress, are balanced off  with  a set of overstated black-brown eyebrows.  The result is stunningly potent.

If you're not brave enough for such a bold brow,  there is another technique which is currently being utilised by many makeup artists so not to frighten the timid, and  to keep the look more natural.  Laura Mercier has used this technique in her Polished Colour Collection, as seen on the left. A richly pigment shadow of the same colour and tone to the hair (or a shade lighter),  is applied purposefully on only certain sections of the brows.  To counteract the over groomed brow of the naughties, brow colour is not applied to the inner corners of the brows so to give the  illusion of  existing tufts, resulting  in a look that seems to be less maintained, more natural and certainly less severe. 

To help you achieve these looks I have set out a variety of products in varying textures, options which I use regularly .

For the days when I'm in hurry to get my makeup on, but I need to make an empowered and professional impression, I will not go past Paula's Choice Browlist.  Her colour choice is in desperate need of expansion, but the two available colours are first class  It's softly pigmented, which renders it foolproof for makeup noobs and klutz alike, its longevity is excellent as it doesn't smudge of fade, and its felt tip style translates to precise application.  Browlist can be purchased at  Paula's Choice for $9.95 US.

When I want to look like I'm not trying hard, and I'm limited time wise,  I opt for  the MAC's doppelganger Maybelline Define-A-Brow in a shade lighter than my brows.  It's a super thin twist-up pencil that does not require sharpening,  constantly maintaining a suitably precise application. This pencil comes in one of the largest colours selections I have ever seen, and is retailed at a competitive drugstore price.

Bobbi Brown Natural Brow Shaper retails at $19.00 US.  It's a wonderful brow mascara with a sticky texture rich in hairspray like ingredients, giving brows one of the firmest holds around. The colour selection is excellent, and its triangular like shaped brush works amazingly well at controlling the application of the product.

For the ultimate "bitch brows" I recommend Make Up For Ever Waterproof Eyebrow Corrector retailing at $18.90 EU. This product is not  recommended to nubcakes. The finished look is solid and stylised due to its concentrated pigmentation, and the fact that once dried it's extremely difficult to correct. It's smudge and waterproof, and the colour stays fresh throughout the day  The colour range although, on the side of humble considering the pigmentation of this product, is stellar due the naturalistic tones.

A classic alternative that everyone should have in their makeup kit is Nyx Eyebrow Cake Powder retailing at $3.00US. The colour range is excellent, and the duo arrangement makes the product versatile. The pigmentation concentration also allows this product to double up as liner (wet or dry) . A good and cheap alternative for those new to makeup or the budget conscious.  With an expert hand when this product is finished off with  some good old fashioned hairspray on a brow/tooth brush, the brows would be comparable to models in glossy mags.

The new kid on the block is an interesting product marketed by Laura Mercier called Brow Definer retailing at $20.00US . It's an innovative product  that combines brow wax and gel liner ingredients.  The result is a  medium pigmentation concentration product which imparts a lovely natural finish.  It  applies easily and smoothly, and  because of the wax ingredients , the product also adheres to the hairs of your brows making them look thicker. The high wax  content does render this product unsuitable for eye lining.

If you're a fan of sharpeners then one of the best old fashioned colour-in pencils on the market is the Chanel Precision Brow Definer.  A medium pigmented, powdery pencil with an excellent colour selection marketed at $28.00US.

MAC Brow Finisher is my product of choice for a naked look. Fast, non complicated, completely foolproof due to very low pigment concentration, minimalist approach to brows. Gloss your brows and off you go.